I know everyone is suffering from cabin fever, but 2 things happening here tell me it won't be long for warmer weather to arrive. For the third time in the last week turkeys have been gobbling on the mountain, the daffodils are up and have buds.

What are the very first signs of spring you see? Besides the days getting longer.

The first I notice is the twigs on willow trees getting more yellow. Around the same time, or maybe just after, the dogwood twigs start getting more red. I usually start seeing this around mid-Feb.

I think it's because these grow in damp areas, so have their roots in groundwater, and sometimes willows have their roots right in the stream water of the limestone streams around here, which don't freeze. So, those plants start to "wake up" earlier than other plants, that have their roots in frozen ground.

1. I want to hear gobblers. I actually get up in the dark to drive along rural roads listening for them. (I'd be glad to see one outside my back door, but I live in town.)

2. Since I am not as observant as others, the first things I actually look for are coltsfoot flowers popping up in waste areas along back roads. (I think coltsfoot flowers are invasives, but I like to see them anyhow.)

3. Along streams, I look for blue-winged olives. Last year and the year before were the best I ever saw; this year, so far, I have not spotted even one BWO.

For me the first sign is the song of the Carolina wren. He sings near the feeders in our yard every day for about a week in mid-February. Then he goes quiet and doesn't start singing again until late March. Also about this time the flocks of grackles and cowbirds return as long as there is some snow-free ground. They show up hungry and mob the feeders every day until a storn approaches, then they disappear again until the weather improves.

Tups wrote:For me the first sign is the song of the Carolina wren. He sings near the feeders in our yard every day for about a week in mid-February. Then he goes quiet and doesn't start singing again until late March. Also about this time the flocks of grackles and cowbirds return as long as there is some snow-free ground. They show up hungry and mob the feeders every day until a storn approaches, then they disappear again until the weather improves.

I've seen that bird activity too, as one of the first signs of spring. At the first sign of milder weather, a bunch of them show up and you hear a lot more bird noise.

Then, as you described, it gets cold again and they disappear. But where do they go? They must just find some cover and lay low until it warms again.

But where? Maybe among the branches of evergreen trees? That's about the only cover available. The broad leafed trees and shrubs have no leaves this time of year, so offer little cover against the cold and wind.

The buds on willows getting yellow, and big flocks of blackbirds moving. However I think the birds are not moving a lot yet, because blackbirds feed on the ground and the ground is still snow covered.Song sparrow singing his heart out since mid-february is another.Ducks move fairly early, but like many birds they will stage if conditions aren't right, they need water to roost on and rest on.

Posted on: 2014/3/6 11:53

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The object of a resource is to use and reuse a resource, not to use it up, have we learned nothing in over 125 years of stocking?

TB: The flocks of blackbirds move back and forth with the snow line, moving maybe 50 miles ahead (south) of an advancing storm in order to stay on snow-free ground where they can feed. Their movements seem to follow the rising and falling barometer which we see alot of this time of year. In a similar way, they may only move to a large marsh in your area to wait out a weak March storm. The warm groundwater near the ground surface tends to keep the marsh surface relatively snow-free. Many years ago, Millbrook Marsh east of State College was a good place to find blackbirds in March. I recall seeing even the rare rusty blackbird there back in the early 1980's.